Raleigh News & Observer Logo

Frozen feet, warm hugs all in a day’s work for a TA | Raleigh News & Observer

×
  • E-edition
    • Customer Service
    • Support
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Sponsorships
    • Stay connected
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • Social Media Directory
    • N&O Store
    • Buy Photos
    • Databases
    • Archives
    • Newsletters

    • Blogs
    • Columnists
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Health
    • Local
    • North Carolina
    • Nation/World
    • Science
    • Thumbs Up
    • Traffic
    • Weather
    • Weird News
    • All News
    • Counties
    • Durham County
    • Johnston County
    • Orange County
    • Wake County
    • All Sports
    • Baseball
    • Canes
    • College
    • Columns & Blogs
    • High Schools
    • NASCAR & Auto Racing
    • NBA
    • NFL
    • NHL
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Panthers
    • Soccer
    • Schools
    • Duke
    • East Carolina
    • NC State
    • North Carolina
    • All Politics
    • The North Carolina Influencer Series
    • State Politics
    • Blogs
    • Columnists
    • PolitiFact
    • PolitiFact NC
    • Rob Christensen
    • Under the Dome
    • All Business
    • Blogs
    • Columnists
    • Health Care
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Shop Talk
    • Stocks Center
    • Technology
    • All Living
    • Video Now
    • Best-Kept Secrets
    • Blogs
    • Celebrations
    • Comics
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Fitness
    • Food
    • Games and Puzzles
    • Home and Garden
    • Horoscopes
    • Mouthful
    • Past Times
    • Pets
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Video Now
    • Arts News
    • ArtsNow
    • Books
    • Contests
    • Dining
    • Entertainment
    • Games
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Television
    • On the Beat
    • Happiness is a Warm TV
    • All Opinion
    • Columnists
    • Dwane Powell
    • Editorials
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Letters
    • Opinion Shop Blog
    • Other Views
    • Submit a Letter
  • Obituaries

    • Advertise with us
    • Place Ad
    • Apartments
    • Cars
    • Homes
    • Jobs
    • Legals
    • Obits/In Memoriams
    • Weddings
    • Today's Daily Deal
    • Special Sections
    • Today's Circulars
    • Rewards
    • Photo Store
  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Legals

Op-Ed

Frozen feet, warm hugs all in a day’s work for a TA

By Leah Crews

    ORDER REPRINT →

June 18, 2015 05:13 PM

With the jobs of 8,500 teacher assistants hanging in balance as N.C. lawmakers hammer out a final budget, let me tell you what teacher assistants in our public schools really do.

Your day begins standing in below-freezing temperatures letting children out of their cars during morning arrival. You wave at everyone, open doors, pick up fallen lunchboxes, answer parents’ questions, all while your nose goes numb and your toes curl from the cold.

You walk into your homebase classroom to find a frantic teacher. Cam doesn’t have his lunch and it’s field trip day. You run to the cafeteria and help the staff throw together a bag lunch.

Your first tutoring group is a fourth-grade leveled literacy intervention (LLI). For the next 45 minutes you read to, listen to and discuss with these children

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The News & Observer

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Oh! A five-minute break … to run downstairs and grab the materials for your next LLI group.

Now it’s time for your math tutoring group. Kayla is having trouble and breaks into tears. You do your best to counsel her after the others leave.

A quick 25-minute (if you’re lucky) lunch

You’re late to pick up your third-grade planning coverage. You run to your homebase to get your coat and hoof it outside.

After more tutoring, you’re back in your homebase. Ken’ye isn’t sure what to do with his activity, and neither is Joseph. You take them to a separate table and try to reteach the concept. Joseph can’t use the scissors because of fine motor difficulty so you run and find the special pair he needs. Ken’ye keeps falling asleep. You feel his head and think he may be sick. You run Ken’ye to the nurse.

After you’ve punched out, you check on Ken’ye in the nurse’s office. His mom’s work number is busy, and the nurse can’t find any other numbers to call. You run back to the classroom and get his uncle’s phone number from his file to give to the nurse. (Keep in mind, you’re off the clock at this point.)

On your drive home, you think about everything that happened and what will happen the next day. You think about the students the most – the ones who are struggling, the sick ones and the ones who hug you every single time they see you in the hall.

It’s impossible to accurately detail a day in the life of a TA because every single one of us has a different set of duties and a different schedule. We are coverage for teachers, helpers for students, tutors, friendly faces, parent contacts, nurses, bus drivers, chaperones, playground monitors, cafeteria monitors, secretaries and more. We do it all. And we do it for practically nothing. We are a vital part of the school day for hundreds of thousands of students in this state, and taking us away is only adding insult to an already injured workforce.

Ask parents what the assistant in their child’s kindergarten class has done for the students. Ask teachers what assistants do for them. Ask actual assistants what they do. We work hard. We educate. We protect. We help. We care. We pick up the pieces. Most of all, we support our teachers, the parents and our students.

I invite lawmakers to go to an elementary school and be an assistant for a day. Live our life and then decide the value of our positions. They owe the students that much.

Leah Crews of Charlotte has been a teacher assistant in Charlotte-Meckenburg schools for four years.

  Comments  

Videos

Catherine Lawson: We can face down our demons

Sending military attorneys to border? Bad policy.

View More Video

Trending Stories

‘An angry customer shot me.’ 911 calls reveal panic at Walgreens in Garner.

February 14, 2019 10:38 AM

NC State basketball player Eric Lockett charged with assaulting a woman

February 14, 2019 06:34 AM

What’s with NC State’s basketball roster? Update on 3 players who missed Syracuse game.

February 14, 2019 10:45 AM

UNC will have two players out against Wake Forest, possibly three, depending on Nassir Little

February 15, 2019 03:40 PM

Wake County commissioner accuses board member of lying, taking credit for park plan

February 14, 2019 12:40 PM

Read Next

Remembering Rep. Walter Jones as ‘the kindest man in Congress’

Opinion

Remembering Rep. Walter Jones as ‘the kindest man in Congress’

By John James Duncan Jr.

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 14, 2019 02:45 PM

Rep. Walter Jones was a fiscal conservative, but generous with his heart

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The News & Observer

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE OP-ED

The NBA All-Star Game is back in Charlotte, but has NC changed?

Opinion

The NBA All-Star Game is back in Charlotte, but has NC changed?

February 14, 2019 01:08 PM
Rep. Walter Jones: A profile in courage

Opinion

Rep. Walter Jones: A profile in courage

February 14, 2019 04:12 PM
John McMillan: lobbyist, lawyer and friend of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Opinion

John McMillan: lobbyist, lawyer and friend of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences

February 13, 2019 07:47 PM
NC should move now on safe coal ash storage

Opinion

NC should move now on safe coal ash storage

February 12, 2019 04:54 PM
How to close the Silent Sam divide

Opinion

How to close the Silent Sam divide

February 12, 2019 03:00 PM

Opinion

‘Carolina Cares’ bill would close gap in opioid treatment

February 12, 2019 12:00 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Raleigh News & Observer App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Triangletoday.com
  • Legal Notices
Advertising
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Our Ads
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • N&O Store
  • N&O Photos
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Report News
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use


Back to Story